"Taphonomy is the study of how organisms decay and become fossilized or preserved in the paleontological record."
The study of how organisms become fossilized, including how they are preserved and what happens to them after death.
Fossilization processes: Understanding how organisms become preserved as fossils, including various modes of preservation such as mineralization, permineralization, and carbonization.
Decomposition and diagenesis: Studying the various natural processes taking place after death, including insect activity, microbial decomposition, and various chemical and physical changes that occur during fossilization.
Taphonomic biases: Exploring the factors that can bias the fossil record, including biases related to preservation potential, mobility, size, and environmental preferences.
Fossil assemblages: Examining the different types of assemblages that can be found in the fossil record, including monospecific, mixture, and accumulation assemblages, and the information they can provide about the natural history of organisms.
Biostratinomy: Studying the processes that occur between death and burial, including transport, exposure, scavenging, and weathering, and how they can alter the fossil record.
Time averaging: Understanding how the fossil record provides a temporal average of life history because fossils are often deposited in different geological settings with varying rates of sedimentation.
Taphonomic signatures: Identifying the signature of different taphonomic processes through the examination of patterns in the fossil record, such as sorting, abrasion, and fragmentation.
Experimental taphonomy: Conducting laboratory and field experiments to simulate taphonomic processes and gain insight into how fossils form under different conditions.
Micropaleontology: Examining microscopic fossils to address questions about taphonomy, including microbial mats and stromatolites.
Taphonomical techniques: Learning about the different techniques used to collect, prepare, and analyze fossils, including surface mapping, excavation, and imaging techniques.
Forensic taphonomy: Applying knowledge of taphonomy to the investigation and identification of human remains in forensic cases.
Historical taphonomy: Learning about the history of taphonomy as a field of study and its connection to other fields such as geology, ecology, and biology.
Ethical implications: Considering the ethical implications of fossil collection, excavation, and research for indigenous communities and future generations.
Biostratinomic taphonomy: This type of taphonomy refers to the processes that happen to the organism in the time between death and burial. This includes things like scavenging, decay, and weathering.
Thanatocoenotic taphonomy: This type of taphonomy looks at the interactions between different organisms after death. It examines things like predation, competition for resources, and microbial activity.
Sedimentologic taphonomy: This type of taphonomy looks at how the sediment surrounding the organism affects its preservation. Factors like sediment type, water depth, and current strength can all affect how well an organism is preserved.
Diagenetic taphonomy: This type of taphonomy refers to the chemical and physical changes that occur after burial. For example, minerals can replace the organic material in bones or shells, changing their composition.
Paleoecologic taphonomy: This type of taphonomy looks at the ecosystem in which the organism lived and how that affected its preservation. For example, organisms in marine habitats may be preserved differently than those in terrestrial habitats due to differences in water chemistry.
Ichnologic taphonomy: This type of taphonomy looks at the tracks, trails, and burrows left by organisms. These can give clues about the behavior of the organism as well as the environment it lived in.
Experimental taphonomy: This involves studying modern examples of taphonomic processes to help us understand how they might have affected fossils in the past.
Taphonomic bias: This refers to the ways in which the fossil record may be skewed due to certain factors. For example, some types of organisms may be more likely to fossilize than others, creating a bias in the record.
"The term taphonomy (from Greek táphos, τάφος 'burial' and nomos, νόμος 'law') was introduced to paleontology in 1940 by Soviet scientist Ivan Efremov."
"The term taphomorph is used to describe fossil structures that represent poorly-preserved, deteriorated remains of a mixture of taxonomic groups, rather than of a single one."
"Taphonomy focuses on the study of the transition of remains, parts, or products of organisms from the biosphere to the lithosphere."
"Taphonomy is the study of how organisms decay and become fossilized or preserved in the paleontological record."
"The term taphonomy (from Greek táphos, τάφος 'burial' and nomos, νόμος 'law') was introduced to paleontology in 1940 by Soviet scientist Ivan Efremov."
"Taphomorphs represent poorly-preserved, deteriorated remains of a mixture of taxonomic groups, rather than of a single one."
"The study of taphonomy is important in understanding the process of how organisms decay and become fossilized or preserved in the paleontological record."
"Taphonomy is the study of how organisms decay and become fossilized or preserved in the paleontological record."
"Taphonomy focuses on the study of the transition of remains, parts, or products of organisms from the biosphere to the lithosphere."
"The term taphonomy (from Greek táphos, τάφος 'burial' and nomos, νόμος 'law') was introduced to paleontology."
"The term taphomorph is used to describe fossil structures."
"Taphomorphs represent poorly-preserved, deteriorated remains."
"Taphonomy is the study of how organisms decay and become fossilized or preserved in the paleontological record."
"Taphonomy is the study of the transition of remains, parts, or products of organisms from the biosphere to the lithosphere."
"The term taphonomy was introduced to paleontology in 1940 by Soviet scientist Ivan Efremov."
"The term taphonomy (from Greek táphos, τάφος 'burial' and nomos, νόμος 'law') was introduced to paleontology."
"Taphomorphs represent poorly-preserved, deteriorated remains of a mixture of taxonomic groups."
"Taphonomy is the study of how organisms decay and become fossilized."
"Taphonomy is the study of the transition of remains, parts, or products of organisms from the biosphere to the lithosphere."